Lost Comrade
by AkdC
Summary: Pre-Time Skip/Slight AU/ It was a very ordinary day with an ordinary mission for Natsu, Lucy and Happy. Everything changes as they receive an extraordinary reward. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

"Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" A pink haired young man shouted with his right fist aflame as he punched it to a bandit. The target was thrown backwards, the force of this pink haired lad knocked him unconscious.

"That was fantastic, Natsu," a blue cat with wings said, hovering near the pink haired youth. Natsu only smiled.

"There are many of these guys, Happy," Natsu replied to the cat. "I'm all fired up for this!"

"He's overdoing it again," a blonde, busty mage murmured, her face very worried.

"Lucy, behind you," Happy said to the blonde, pointing to the bandit who held a golden key.

"A stellar spirit mage?" Lucy said in shock.

The bandit raised his arm and said, "I open thee! Gate of the—"

"Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu said, hitting the mage-bandit who was trying to attack. "Hey, Luce, do not let your guard down like that! They're just easy fellows."

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"It's not like I was not prepared for such bandits," Lucy retorted. "Seriously!"

"Okay, let's get back to business," Natsu said, exercising his knuckles.

"I open thee! Gate of the Golden Bull," Lucy said, pulling out a golden key with an axe-shaped end. "Taurus!"

A magic circle appeared in front of Lucy, and out came a bull, with a body of a man and a head of a bull. He had a bell around his neck, his body colored like a cow and an axe on his back. He only wore underwear with X-shaped straps on his torso.

"Seeing Lucy-san's nice body is so amazing," Taurus said, blowing off some steam on his nose, his eyes turning into hearts.

"Stop looking at my body and start fending those guys off," Lucy shouted, irritated by this stellar spirit's attitude.

"Of course! I won't let anyone harm this nice body of yours, Lucy-san," Taurus replied, grabbing his axe. He ran towards the group of bandits near his mage, and swung his battle-axe. "Rampage!"

In no less than five minutes, all of the bandits were unconscious, sorely beaten up by the mages of the continent of Fiore.

* * *

_Later…_

It was now sundown, and the two mages were inside a huge house. A man of his forties, wearing a suit together with his wife, who wore a simple dress, talked to Natsu and Lucy.

"Thank you so much," the man said. "Our wealth is now kept in a safe place. Thank you Fairy Tail mages."

"It was nothing," Natsu said. "Those guys weren't much of a challenge as I thought they would be."

"Yes!" Happy added.

Lucy cleared her throat. "Now, it is time for our reward!"

"Why, yes it is," the lady said. Her husband stood and went to the side of the sofa, and carried a bag with jewels.

"This is your money reward. Four hundred thousand jewels, in exact count," the man said. He gave it to Natsu, who was happy to see it.

"Hey, how are we going to divide it to ourselves?" Natsu asked.

"Well, you can have the two hundred thousand, and I get the other two hundred thousand jewels," Happy replied.

"You didn't even bother about _my_ share in that reward? _You_," Lucy whispered in anger. She gave Happy a light punch in the head. "Don't you forget that I'm here!"

Happy held his swelling head and replied weakly, "Aye…"

"Before I forget, here is the other part of the reward for you mission," the young lady said, giving Lucy a golden key. The key had twin snakes reveling down and it had a letter U with a squiggle in the middle. "This is the second part of the reward."

"Huh? An Ecliptic Zodiac key?" Natsu asked.

"Yes," the lady replied. "Now, use that key well from now on."

Lucy nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Let's go, Happy, Lucy," Natsu said, standing up from the couch he sat on and headed to the door. "Our business is done here."

"Aye, sir!" Happy said.

"Thank you very much," Lucy said, bowing politely to the couple and bade them goodbye.

The trio went to the train station and waited for the next train to come. It was almost turning to evening, and the last train arrives at six o'clock.

"Ugh, do we really have to ride that _again_?" Natsu groaned, his stomach churning. "Just the thought of riding a train makes me very sick."

"Any transportation makes you sick!" Lucy shouted, annoyed by the dragon slayer's weakness.

"Aye," Happy said.

"What, do you want to travel by foot going back to Magnolia?" Lucy asked him. "It would take us days to get there. If we ride a train, it would lessen the time by a half."

The train arrived, with few passengers inside. Lucy grabbed Natsu by his white scarf and dragged him inside while Happy walked in casually. Lucy put down Natsu in front of her and let him sit down. He looked much disoriented. The only baggage they have is Lucy's small bag. The stellar spirit mage sat down and took out the golden key that was part of their reward.

"This key… It looks familiar, but I do not remember it at all," Lucy said, the train slowly moving.

"Eh? You do not know this key at all, Lucy?" Happy inquired. Lucy nodded.

"Definitely, this is the first time that I saw this," Lucy added. "Somehow, I think I have read this before… Maybe when I get home, I should consult Crux about this."

"Aye!"

"I think I'm going to blow," Natsu said, his hand by his mouth. He was going to vomit to Lucy.

Lucy pushed him away from herself and said, "Don't vomit at me, you runt!"

* * *

_Magnolia, Nighttime_

Lucy plopped to the bed as soon as she reached her apartment. She sighed and looked intently at key that she gained. She held it in front of her as her thoughts about it tumbled about.

"_Whose key is this? I feel that I know this one before_," Lucy thought. She placed her bag onto her table along with her keys and the reward she gained. She grabbed her towel and bath robe, and immediately went to her bathroom to cleanse herself. She closed the door and went to the bathtub.

Lucy turned on the faucet for the warm water and filled the tub. As she waited for the tub to be full, she removed her clothing, leaving her naked. She turned off the faucet and placed her dirty clothes near the faucet. She wrapped her hair with her towel and dipped herself in the tub.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu said, coming out of nowhere from the window. "Huh?" He noticed that nobody was home.

"Where's Lucy?" Happy asked, floating nearby Natsu. Natsu shook his head.

"We're going in, Lucy," Natsu declared, jumping in from the window sill. He noted the stellar spirit keys by her desk and bag. Happy glided over Lucy's refrigerator, and opened it up.

"I hope Lucy doesn't mind if I take some fish here," Happy said, pleased taking a tuna from her cool fridge. He closed it as he started chomping on the raw fish.

"Hey, Happy," Natsu said. "Let's go find Lucy here."

"Aye," Happy agreed. They sauntered evr place Lucy can be, even the most ridiculous places where she can't be.

"Lucy," Natsu said, looking under her bed.

"Lucy," Happy said, glancing at the insides of a shoe box.

They continued searching, from every corner of her small apartment, until the duo reached the bathroom door. Natsu opened it without any hesitation.

"Lucy, are you there?" he called.

Lucy suddenly looked at the door. It was Natsu at her door. She was naked. He bolted in casually, as if it was nothing. She covered her breasts with her arms and shouted, "Natsu, what are doing here? Can't you see that I'm washing up?"

"We were worried so we searched you here," Happy said.

"Get out!" Lucy shouted, quickly removing her towel in her hair and covered her body.

"Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!" She pushed Natsu and Happy away from her, and pushed them until at her apartment door. She slammed the door by their faces and sighed.

"Of all people, Natsu, why do you have to go barging in at my apartment without a knock?" Lucy asked.

"We were worried when you saw that key reward," Natsu said. "So we came for a visit."

"You coming in for a visit, and you never told me," Lucy retorted. "You will stay out there until I'm done!"

Silence fell into the apartment.

"What, did I do anything wrong, Happy?"

"I don't know for sure," Happy said. "Maybe she's just getting grumpy at getting old."

"Hey, don't you think I did not hear that!" Lucy shouted, her voice faint.

"Yikes," Happy replied, hiding behind Natsu.

"Why don't we wait outside until Lucy's cooled off her head?" Natsu asked.

"Aye," Happy nodded, walking down the flight of staircase going outside.

Lucy, who was still behind the door, heard Natsu and Happy's footsteps fade away and rushed to her bathtub again.

"Those two dense people," Lucy whispered angrily.

She dipped herself in the warm tub and cleaned herself with her favorite soap. She rinsed herself and started cleaning her hair. She wiped herself dry and wore the towel on her hair and her bath robe on her body. She went out of the tub and walked right into her room. She set off to her dresser and chose her undergarments, and her pink pajamas and white shirt.

As she was going to finish dressing, Natsu came in from the window again and shouted, "Lucy, are you done?"

Lucy shrieked quietly and reprimanded Natsu. "You shouldn't astonish me like that when I am dressing!"

"Well, at least you're done," Natsu said.

"We were kind of tired waiting for you," Happy said.

"It wasn't like I took a shower for hours!"

"Anyway, Lucy," Natsu said. "You said aboard the train that you didn't know the key that was our reward from our mission earlier."

"Yes," Lucy replied. She went to her desk, and picked up the mysterious key. She shuffled through her keys and picked a silver one. "Let's consult Crux about this key."

"Aye," Happy said.

"I open thee! Gate of the Southern Cross," Lucy again, raising the silver key and drawing a cross. "Crux!"

A magical circle appeared in front of her and out came a giant silver old man. His head was a cross, his eyes, nose, white moustache and mouth on its center while his body was on an Indian sit position, floating in the air.

"Lucy-san," Crux said. "What is it that you need of my service this time?"

"Crux, I want you to find any information about this key," Lucy said, lifting the golden key in front of Crux's eyes. Suddenly, Crux's head fell and his nose started to create a mucus bubble.

"He fell asleep!" Happy declared.

"No, he's thinking," Lucy said. "It is his way of thinking. He is currently scuffling in the great Celestial Library."

The bubble blowing in Crux's nose popped and his eyes widened. "Lucy-san, I'm afraid I cannot release any information about that key."

"But why?" Lucy asked, very exasperated.

"I am afraid that I cannot tell again why it is so," Crux said. "It is not I who can give you the information, but someone else." Crux disappeared in front of Lucy, his voice fading away.

"Why?" Lucy asked. "Why is it that he cannot tell me anything about this?"

"He is Ophiuchus," a familiar male voice said.

"That voice…" Natsu said. Behind Lucy was a male, wearing tinted blue shades, orange hair and a formal suit. "Loke!"

"Loke?" Lucy asked. She turned around to see Loke, the most powerful celestial spirit in her possession. "It's you! Why have you come here all of a sudden?"

"I felt that you needed help coming from me, princess," Loke said. "I am the other person whom Crux tells who can release information about that stellar spirit."

"You mentioned it was Ophiuchus, right?" Happy inquired.

"You have heard it right," Loke said, nodding. "He is the long lost golden key to the gate of the celestial spirit world. He is our lost comrade and the thirteenth member of the Ecliptic Zodiac, long forgotten by the world today."

* * *

_First chapter, done!_

_Many fanfiction stories here have spread about the thirteenth zodiac sign, but none of which are canonical or so. I decided to make a change from that general field._

_The idea came out from last year, as I was reading through an astrological magazine. They mentioned of the thirteenth zodiac sign, Ophiuchus._

_If you may notice, Ophiuchus has already made his debut to the Fairy Tail manga and is in Yukino's possession. I lost hope in doing this fanfic, but I carried on. Remember, this is a slight AU story and a pre-timeskip one, too. Chapters will be released in a monthly basis, so please wait patiently._

_Read and Review._


	2. A Short Note

_Dear readers,_

_I sincerely apologize because I started a fanfic that I wouldn't be able to update frequently. My interest is geared more on my other fanfic. Even though I wanted to keep this story, I can _not _keep up._

_That is why I am officially _dropping_ this story for good. In layman's terms, I am _discontinuing_ the story. Do not worry readers, for I have given it into someone else who is going to make a debut here at fan . The story is in safe, artistic hands (or rather, mind)._

_The author has already been told of the plot, and he is on the process of revamping (?) it._

_Again, apologies to you reader.  
_

__The Fire Stirring Ruby (08-26-2012)


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